BYRON, Ill. (WTVO) — Byron’s Super Bowl champ, former Baltimore Raven Sean Considine announced that he has purchased the former Sam’s Drive-In restaurant property along Illinois Route 2.
Sam’s, known for its “World Famous Root Beer,” was instantly recognizable to drivers for its 50’s style drive-in restaurant aesthetic and classic 1957 Chevy Bel-Air perched on a 30-foot pole outside.
It was opened by Sam Morrison in 1966 as a Dog n’ Suds and later became Sam’s Drive-In in 1975.
In October 2023, owner Shirlee Aldrich announced she was stepping away from the business, and it has sat vacant ever since.
On Monday, Considine announced that he and his wife, Nicole, had purchased the property.
“This is a historic business in Byron and I have a lot of great memories from my childhood at that business,” Considine said on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the building is in very rough shape because of the tornado earlier this spring. It is my opinion that the best steps forward are to demo the building and start over.”